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4w ago

Fremont Man Faces Federal Charges for Theft of $216,000 in Rare Chinese Manuscripts

He faces up to 10 years in prison following allegations that he replaced UCLA’s rare Chinese manuscripts with dummy volumes under multiple aliases.

UCLA's Police Department is assisting federal authorities with the investigation of Jeffrey Ying, a Bay Area man accused of stealing $216,000 in rare Chinese manuscripts from the university library system.
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Chinese manuscripts can include thousands of characters created by skilled artists using special brushes
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Overview

  • Federal prosecutors allege Jeffrey Ying stole $216,000 worth of rare Chinese manuscripts from the UCLA Library and charged him with theft of a major artwork felony.
  • Authorities say Ying exploited library reservation protocols from December 2024 to July 2025 by checking out the volumes under multiple aliases and returning dummy copies.
  • Investigators recovered blank manuscript pages, pre-made asset tags, and a fraudulent California ID along with library cards bearing the names Austin Chen and Jason Wang in his Brentwood hotel room.
  • Ying was arrested on August 4 and formally charged in a federal criminal complaint on August 7 with his initial hearing scheduled soon in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
  • The case underscores vulnerabilities in handling high-value cultural artifacts and involves joint efforts by the Department of Justice, FBI, and UCLA Police Department.